Rivlin challenges Shapira for State Comptroller job

Yosef Shapira is currently a judge at the Jerusalem District Court, while Eliezer Rivlin is Deputy President of the Supreme Court.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decreed yesterday that the next state comptroller will be Jerusalem District Court Judge Yosef Shapira. However, today came the news that Supreme Court Deputy President Judge Eliezer Rivlin is also declaring his candidacy to become State Comptroller.

Netanyahu met last night with Knesset Speaker MK Reuven Rivlin (Likud), with coalition chairman Zeev Elkin (Likud), and with MK Yariv Levin (Likud) who updated Netanyahu about the conclusions of the Knesset parties that support the appointment of Shapira to replace Micha Lindenstrauss, who will be ending his tenure in a few months.

Shapira has the support of Likud, Kadima, Ha'atzmaut, and Yisrael Beitenu parties. Yahadut Hatorah and Shas are also expected to support the appointment.

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The appointment of Shapira still needs to be approved by the Knesset, but it appeared that a majority of MKs support his appointment, at least prior to the announcement that Rivlin was running which could now shuffle the deck.

Shapira (66) studied law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and has worked as a lawyer for three decades. The firm he founded is still currently operating. Since 1999, Shapira has been serving as a judge in the military appeals court as his military reserve duty, with the rank of Colonel. In 2000, Shapira finished a master's degree in Criminology in the UK, and at the beginning of the previous decade he served as chairman of the Israel Bar Association in Jerusalem, and as deputy chairman of the Israel Bar Association's National Disciplinary Tribunal.